1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to removing metal from integrated circuit (IC) structures and more particularly to an improved method that utilizes an electronic field to oxidize a limited region of metal, after which the oxidized portion of the metal is removed using a solvent.
2. Description of the Related Art
The clean milling of metal features in IC products has been, and still is, a very active field of research. More specifically, the clean removal of metal features is an active topic in research for improving today's chip repair processes. The ability to do such editing/repair is especially important in the IC chip fabrication process to permit salvage/rework of metal features. Present methods for editing metal features have limited utility because of non-volatility and subsequent re-deposition of metal after local editing is performed, usually by focused ion beam (FIB) techniques. Thus, there is a need for improved apparatus and methods that allow the clean milling of metal features anywhere in the structure of the IC (e.g., surface or deephole).